Worrall speculates that the trees absorb stored energy from their own roots, eventually killing the roots and preventing the rise of new aspen sprouts. "They basically starve to death," he says.

Pando is an ancient quaking aspen tree (Populus tremuloides) with 47,000 genetically identical stems, or tree trunks, connected to a vast underground root system. Each stem is a clone of the one ...

Young aspens often don't survive because of factors such as grazing elk, according to a study by Northern Arizona University researchers.

If the root system between patches is severed ... 2008). The ability of aspen to produce whole stands of "trees" vegetatively provides yet another key element in explaining the species’ ability ...